Ch8. The Ash and Aftermath

The explosion's roar vibrated through the air as Rashaad and Esther hit the ground. Esther's eyes went wide as her father came in front of her, protecting her from the shock of the blast. All she could comprehend was the fire over her father's shoulder, the cry of the boom, the smell of smoke and…

…And the possibility that her friend was hurt, if not worse.

After a few moments, the smoke settled and the air was deadly still as if the whole world was still holding its breath. Rashaad got to his feet and helped his daughter up. She was staring at what remained behind her father-ash, a smoldering trail of smoke, and some destroyed metal parts that were coated over with a thick layer of soot.

But no sign of the ex-thief.

"…No…No! Swaine!" Esther ran to the destroyed tank and whipped her head all around, trying to catch sight of anything-anything-that could tell her the whereabouts of Swaine. She carefully walked over and around the bits and pieces of the machine and scanned her blue eyes all along the ground. Marcassin and the others had come back running to the heap of the once-mechanical beast.

The pirate's dark brown eyes took in the environment before him. "Aarr, that t'was a mighty explosion. Are you and your lass alright, Rashaad?"

"We are fine, save some soot on my back," The Great Sage brushed some black dust off of the back of his arm but then his eyes were downcast. "…But we do not know the condition of Swaine."

"Swaine! Swaaa-ine! Swaine, where ar-oof!" The animal tamer had tripped on a large lump on the ground and hit the harsh ground face-first. She got up and looked back to see what had caused the fall.

Her blue eyes grew larger as a soft gasp escaped her lips.

Lying on his side and caked in black ash was Swaine.

"S…S-Swaine!"

Esther hurriedly crawled over to get a better look at her friend. His brown eyes were covered by his stone-still eyelids and his limbs were nothing but limp, lifeless appendages. She cautiously touched his shoulder and gently shook it.

"Swaine! Swaine, wake up! Come on, Swaine! Wake up, please!"

Marcassin ran over at the sound of Esther's pleading. He looked down to see his brother, as lifeless as the soot that covered his clothes and hair. The prince's hair swayed side to side with disbelief as he crouched down to the mechanic.

"…No…No, this… this can't…" He raised his shaking hand to a pressure point on Swaine's neck as his green eyes watched for any motion in the older man's chest.

Nothing came. His chest was motionless and there was no pulsing at his neck. The whole time Esther's eyes were staring anxiously at the prince, waiting for an answer.

"…W-Well? Is h-he…?"

The Great Sage met her blue eyes, his own green ones conveying the grave news.

"…N…No…N-no. No, no, it can't-!" Fragile tears forced their way out of Esther's beautiful eyes as they fell on Swaine's face, washing some of the soot away from his face. In between sniffles and chokes of tears, she whispered, "N-no, this-it's not fair…sniff, Swaine, you-you just…sniff…you saved us-and now…and n-now….no, no, this isn't-!" Her emotions chose to erupt at that time as a waterfall of tears poured out of her eyes and her body shook with despair as she held Swaine's head in her lap.

The other two sages and the pirate caught up with the prince and realized the fate of their scruffy friend as the blonde and prince cried an ocean's worth of tears in between murmurings of melancholy.

Esther looked up to her friends with glistening eyes. "F-Father, Khulan, anyone, is there anything that anyone can do to b-bring him back?"

The three adults pondered in thought, desperately searching the libraries of their minds for a solution.

Khulan shook her head, "…I…I don't think so...I may be a Great Sage, but even I can't bring back the dead…"

"…Mmm, I'm afraid there's nothing in my power I can do either, my friend." Kublai scratched his beard with his thick fingers as Rashaad did the same.

But then the babana merchant's eyebrows shot up. "…Wait, your Healing Hymn…I'm not sure this would work, but…" He gazed at his wooden staff, "…I think we could at least try. If we combine our powers with your music, it may strengthen the spell to-wait…"

Esther and Rashaad suddenly realized a flaw in this plan. "My harp…it's…it was smashed in the battle…" More crystal tears rained from her eyes as she cursed herself for not being able to help her friend. Her hands tightened into firmly closed fists.

"'Ey?" The pirate's bushy eyebrows conveyed confusion, "Wait, I thought it was the song that did the magic; why not sing your Healing Hymn?"

Silence settled in the air for a moment, letting the idea sink in.

Khulan knelt down to Esther's side and placed a hand on her shoulder, "…Esther, I can't guarantee that this will work, but I think if we have a chance at saving him, you'll have to use the instrument you've been using since the day you were born; your voice."

Esther stared with glistening eyes for a second before she nodded. Marcassin and Rashaad thrust their staffs into the ground. Khulan raised her green gloved arms up in concentration with Rashaad on her left and Marcassin on her right. The prince's staff radiated a heavenly blue light while Rashaad's gently jingled as the golden rings floated around the wood.

"Okay, Esther, whenever you are ready."

The familiar tamer swallowed a lump in her throat and stood up. Kublai's large hand found her shoulder, and the young lady looked to the rugged brown eyes of the captain. He gave her a reassuring smile. She turned back around, taking a deep breath.

Esther's voice rang out through the Hamelin air. The vibrations that came from her singing echoed in a rejuvenating manner as the healing magic of the three sages intertwined with her song. The atmosphere felt warm and healing as the atmosphere pulsed soothingly. Warm rushes of energy surged down the spines of the sages, their bruises and injuries becoming no more. They all directed most of the magic towards Swaine, however the man remained as still as a lifeless piece of metal, not showing any physical reaction to the spell.

The hymn resonated for a blissful few minutes. As Esther let the wind carry the final note out, the three sages relaxed their arms.

Silence. Simply silence. Dead silence.

Esther looked down to Swaine with a look in her eyes that was somewhere between hope that he would wake up or worry that he would never open his brown eyes again. Marcassin tested for his pulse once again with the same emotions in his royal eyes.

"…N…Nothing. T-There's no pulse."

"…So…My singing…it couldn't-I couldn-cou-"

The desert blonde broke down in uncontrollable sobs. She covered her eyes with her delicate hands but it was in vain; the tears wouldn't stop. The salty droplets fell on the dead chest of Swaine, saturating his orange shirt with Marcassin's tears.

"N…No…Gascon, no…th-this…this wasn't s-supposed to happen…"

As the two young adults shed tears of loss, Kublai and the others joined them in their sorrow with bowed heads of sadness. For a few moments the group was in a trance of melancholy, grieving over the loss of the life of their friend…but was broken at the sound of shuffling ash and metal from a nearby pile of broken machinery.

Out popped Spooky the Bougie, glowing palely but covered in spots of grey soot. The undead familiar coughed a few times and floated over to the lifeless body of his master. The five observed the animal as it sniffed at Swaine's face. The Bougie licked off some of the filthy ash from the man's face.

"….Mmph…Five more minutes…"

Swaine turned his head to the side with his eyes still closed-but this was still a miracle. And the humans were too speechless to do anything but watch the familiar continue to lick his master. Then those peculiar brown eyes cracked open. "Uugh…Spooky, five more minutes-wait, what?" His eyes shot open, finally taking in his surroundings, slowly sitting up.

"Wha…? What happ-uugh!" The thin man gripped his ribs as he felt a sharp pain jolt through his body from them. "Ow…Dammit, what happened?"

"…SWAINE!" Esther reached down and bear hugged the scruffy mechanic back to the ground.

"Oof! H-hey, Esther, what the hell?" He scratched his hair with calloused hands. "…And what happened? I think…I remember dealing with Moco and…then I was stuck by those dammed gears and there was a boom…" The mechanic rubbed his right ear with his palm. "Man, my ears feel like they're gonna fall off any second."

"Who cares about that?!" Esther glared at the man with shining blue eyes, "You-You were almost dead! Do you have ANY idea how WORRIED I was?!"

"Well, your yelling sure isn't gonna help." Swaine attempted to sit up again, this time more slowly. "Whoa, wait a minute-you were worried about me?"

A faint shade of pink blossomed on the tamer's face. "W-Well-I mean-We were all worried about you! We thought you were dead!"

"She's correct, Gascon." Marcassin chimed in. "We all were worried that…that you…that you were gone…"

Swaine looked up to the faces of Kublai, Khulan, and Rashaad, relief washing the worry from their faces. The scrawny man gazed down to his golden haired friend-now noticing the tear stains down her soft cheeks and the few remaining droplets of water glazing her sapphire eyes.

"Um…Well, I'm alive now," he shrugged, slightly wincing at the movement. His younger brother took notice of this.

"Gascon, are you alright? Can you stand?"

"For the love of black truffles, it's Swaine! S-W-A-I-"He was interrupted by a hiss of discomfort as a sharp surge of pain emerged from his ribs yet again.

The Hamelin ruler stood up and said, "Everyone, get Ga-I-I mean Swaine to the hospital, I'm going to go back and get a doctor!" and ran off with his long hair waving behind him.

As Marcassin's footsteps faded away, Rashaad helped Swaine to his feet with his thin arm over the sage's wide shoulders. Swaine's other arm curled around his sore torso.

"Uurg…dammit, I must have broken a rib or two."

"Are you sure you're okay to walk, Swaine?" Esther asked with concern.

"…Yeah, I'm fine. Besides, what would you do then, carry me to the hospital?"

Kublai scratched his beard. "Aargh, maybe. I could probably do it; you're scrawny enough and wouldn't take too much muscle." He let loose a hearty laugh. "Ha, I'd do it bridal style or I could give you a piggy back ride! Ahahaha!"

"…Let's not, okay? I don't think my pride could take that kind of torture." Swaine deadpanned out. Inside he was shuddering at the humiliating images as they made their merry way to the Hamelin hospital.

"…Just a few broken ribs and bruises, but the doctor said I'd make a full recovery."

Esther breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear that. How long will it take?"

Swaine scratched his stubble. "Oh, about eight weeks or so."

The ex-thief was in a simple white hospital bed with Esther on a pale green stool by the bedside. The man's old trench coat hung on the bed's pipe frame as the white sheets covered his body up to the bottom of his chest, hiding the rest of his orange shirt which further concealed the bandages around his torso.

"By the way…remember when Marcassin said the reason behind Porco Moco's rampage was that some crooks broke into the palace and spilt those strange chemicals over the tank?" The mechanic nodded and Esther continued. "Well, I heard that they were arrested and are being forced to fix the mess that Moco made back in Main Street and the palace."

A wry smile surfaced on the mechanic's face. "Suits them; they have to clean up the mess that they caused." He then stared up to the ceiling with a pondering look in his eyes.

"…Swaine? Is something wrong?"

"…Actually, I keep thinkin' about this weird dream I had." He scratched the stubble on his angular chin again. "It was when I was ko'ed by that explosion. I was just floating in space and all I could see was black…I kinda felt like I was drowning in ink or somethin'…but then I heard some music. And the louder it got, the closer I felt to the surface to that pool of ink or whatever…And before I knew it, Spooky was lickin' my face."

Spooky floated out of Swaine's chest with a wagging tail. "No, Spooky, I didn't call for y-ack!" The Bougie excitedly licked the man's face. "No, boy-ack-down, down boy-acpth!"

Eventually the ghostly familiar ceased his affection and floated over to the window sill, where Gogo was munching on some babanas. While the two familiars shared their fruit, Swaine noticed an interesting gleam in the desert blonde's eyes.

"Um-do you remember how the music went?"

"Let's see…actually, now that I think about it, it was singing…and it sounded familiar, but I can't put my finger on where I've heard it before…" The ex-thief tapped his finger on the white sheet.

"Oh…I see…"

Suddenly, his eyebrows shot up at the sound of her voice. "Wait, it…It was…" Esther leaned forward with her sky colored eyes on him, waiting for his answer.

"It was what?"

"…This may sound strange…but I could've sworn that singing…was you…you and your Healing Hymn…" His callused hands rubbed his eyes. "Great, now I've got that stupid song stuck in my head again." When he raised his hand away from his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of Esther's sapphire eyes shining with that same unique shine.

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, why?"

"W-Well, we thought you were dead so…"

As Esther discussed the events that transpired during Swaine's black out, Gogo elbowed his wing at Spooky. He chirped and motioned to their human friends. The Bougie got an enthusiastic smile on his face as Gogo grinned mischievously. Hopping down from his perch, the Electrongo quietly waddled over to the corner of the room facing Esther's back. Spooky glided over as well and curled himself up into a little ball in Gogo's wing. The two remained in the corner, waiting for the right moment to execute their plan.

"So…do you think my singing…saved you?"

"Well, it's hard to say exactly, but if it did," Swaine scratched his curly mess of hair, "Then…thank you, I guess."

"'I guess?' There's a possibility somebody saved your life and all you say is 'thank you, I guess'?" Esther rolled her eyes, "You really are the Prince of Swine."

"Well, at least I'm not a babana girl."

"Well, at least I'm not a scruffy moron!"

"At least I'M not little miss familiar ta-mmph!"

The man was interrupted as Gogo threw Spooky at the back of Esther's head, jerking the woman's head forward. The Electrongo's aim was spot on; his master's lips had crashed into the intended target of the other man's mouth.

The couple was frozen in embarrassment and surprise, each with scarlet faces and eyes the size of saucers. Gogo gave his partner-in-crime a high five with Spooky's tail as their master's were locked in this peculiar smooch.

As if to make things worse, Prince Marcassin opened the door. "Hello, Swaine, is everyth-" His green eyes widened as the couple broke the accidental kiss and faced the ruler with even redder faces. Everything and everybody was frozen still as if the world had just pressed the pause button on a TV remote to the events of this room. The porcine prince closed the door without a word and walked away as briskly as he could.

For a moment the two were speechless, lost in their embarrassment before they finally found their voices as they turned to their trouble making familiars

"Gogo!"

"Spooky!"

The plump bird shrugged and the spirit familiar spun in happy circles before they swiftly vanished back into their master's chests before the couple could stop them.

"Gogo! You get back out here right now!"

"Spooky, the moment you come back out, you're dead meat, you hear me?!"

Their only response was nothing. Esther made eye contact with Swaine with uncertainly. The two looked away, not sure what to do now.

"Um…sorry, I guess."

"Uh, it's okay, it was an accident."

"…hmph, more like an immature prank by your pet."

"H-hey, your familiar was in on it too, for your information!"

Instead of barking back, the mechanic actually remained silent and looked to the side. The animal tamer took a deep breath to calm down and sat back down on her stool. She looked in the direction her friend was staring off to but failed to see what he found intriguing in that area.

"…So when do you think you'll go back to Al Mamoon?"

She was caught off guard at this question. "Oh? I'm not sure, a day or so?"

"Mmm…I see."

"Why?"

"Oh-um, well-nothing, just curious. Wanna know how long I've got to put up with ya'."

"…Why does that question not surprise me?"

"Beats me."

Esther tapped her chin sarcastically in thought. "Oh, wait, I know why; you are Swaine, that's why."

"Yep. And you're Esther."

The desert blonde sighed. "Honestly, I don't know why I put up with you." She got up from her stool and began to make her way to the door…but Swaine's voice stopped her.

"…Sorry. But thanks."

"Hm? For what?"

"…For puttin' up with a jerk like me."

She turned around and walked back to the bedside. "Wait, Swaine…you may be an idiot and a moron sometimes but…okay, you are a jerk sometimes. But you're still my friend. So leave the name calling to me, 'kay?" She patted her finger on his forehead. "You calling yourself a jerk is a bit weird…'un-Swaine-like', really."

The man smirked playfully, "Okay, we can do that. And I guess as long as you put up with me, I'll deal with ya'."

"Oh, really?" Sarcasm was intertwined evidently with her voice, "What do you have to deal with?"

"A nosy goody two-shoes who likes to drive yours truly crazy."

"…If you weren't in bed right now, I'd probably slap you for that."

"Heh heh, yeah…And…"

Esther raised her thin eyebrows; what else did this ex-thief have to say? He looked away uncomfortably while his hands were rubbing the fabric of the sheets between his fingers, trying to settle his nerves.

"…I...also have to deal with your talent as an animal tamer, a dancer, a musician…and you're a good cook, too…" Esther's sapphire eyes widened at these compliments; they were the last thing she expected to come out of his mouth. "And your blonde hair…and your blue eyes…and yo-mmph?!"

The man didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as something warm and soft mashed onto his mouth. His brown eyes dilated in surprise with the realization that Esther's lips were pressed purposely against his. It only lasted for a moment and before the man could react, Esther's lips were already pulled away.

"…You better shut up and get some rest. You saying things like that isn't like you at all."

With that the desert blonde walked away and exited out the door without another word. Swaine, still in a state of shock, stared at the door where Esther walked off. His mind was a total blank as if that surprise kiss had erased all of his knowledge and memories with one fell swoop-or smooch, in this case.

Spooky, feeling it was finally safe to come out of his master's heart, floated out of his chest and licked the mechanic's face. Swaine's face was frozen and unresponsive to the Bougie's presence. Giving up on his master, he curled up on the man's lap and closed his tiny eyes, preparing for a nap while in the company of his master's warmth.

Esther was actually still outside the hospital room, leaning her body on the wall. She hung her head down and utilized her long side bangs to hide the lingering blush on her face. Her hands were clasped in front of her and lightly squeezed each other as the lady wore a smile on her rosy face.

She wasn't sure exactly why she did what she did back there…but for some strange reason, she didn't regret it. The woman sighed and touched her lips with her fingers, remembering the warmth and taste of…

"Chirp! Chir-chirp!"

"H-huh? Gogo?"

Esther's Electrongo had jumped out while she was in her daydream. He chirped kissing sounds with his beak the best he could and fluttered his eyelids-his master's reaction was a bright red blush.

"W-what?! It's not-well-it wasn't-errr-"

"Chi-chirp chirp!" With that, the chubby bird waddled away while whistling the annoying playground tune of "K-I-S-S-I-N-G"-and it didn't take a familiar tamer to know who he was singing about.

Esther's face was now a cross between tomato red and the color of beets. "H-Hey! It's not like that at all! You stop it right now! GOGO, YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" As her waist-cape and hair blazed behind her, she chased her singing familiar, shouting commands of denial and for him to stop, and vanished from sight.

Aaaaand...the end! :D Hope you enjoyed it!